CLICKBAIT!: A Treasure Trove of Pulp Fiction Cover Art

Sex, war, communists, cowboys, and killers. What do these all have in common? With the advent of cheap, mass production of books and magazines, these shocking subjects dominated popular American literature in the mid-20th century. Cover artists had a rather different, and challenging job- transforming pulp authors’ words into visually dynamic scenes that would grab potential readers’ attention and entice them into making a purchase. See a sampling of these over-the-top visuals that function as analog clickbait beginning on May 21.

Clickbait! runs through September 1.